Oil Free Seas Flotilla skippers Andy Whitaker, left, and Tim Foreman

Oil Free Seas Flotilla skippers Andy Whitaker, left, and Tim Foreman at the public welcome after almost three weeks at sea. They were protesting against oil giant Anadarko drilling at a site over 100 nautical miles off the west coast of New Zealand, and in waters around a kilometre and a half deep. The Greenpeace sponsored yacht SV Vega spent seven days inside the 500 metre exclusion zone as the Noble Bob Douglas prepared to start drilling. The yachts arriving in Auckland are SV Baltazar, SV Friendship, SV Shearwater II and SV Vega. SV Ratbag arrived back at her home port in the Bay of Islands today while SV Tiama is heading south. The flotilla is a coalition of individuals and boat owners who oppose deep-sea drilling and the new legislation that takes away New Zealander’s long-standing right to peacefully protest at sea.